Superhero Training Day!

This year my class has a Superhero theme. It's a new theme, since I lived at Hogwarts with a Harry Potter theme for the last 7 years. Although there are times when I miss Harry, sometimes desperately, I am enjoying the Superhero theme.  Earlier this year we even had a Superhero Training Day. 

Superhero Training Day was a blast. When the kids came in they were treated by this morning message. 

 

Over the summer I made capes for each of my third grade heroes using t-shirts, scissors, and a guide found on Pinterest in September the kids designed emblems to put on their capes. Anytime we need a little extra super power we wear our capes. Here's one of my heroes in his cape ready for Superhero Training Day. (Yes- he is siting on an exercise ball. I have some alternative seating going on this year). 

After we "suited up" it was time to put our narrative writing skills to work. We used dialogue to create origin stories tell how we got our super powers. These were a lot of fun and really came out better than I had expected. 

                                 

Here are a few of the completed origin stories.

After our origin stories were complete I sounded an alarm not he SMARTboard (and gave some of my heroes a heart attack) letting them know that New York was under attack from Loki and needed our help. Points gathered by playing Kahoot would help give supplies to the Avengers battling in NYC. I used clips from the Avengers Movie to help to sell this idea. 

This was an early dismissal day so we didn't have much time left.  However we headed outside to a S.H.I.E.L.D. training facility for some training exercises. 

Bowling for bad guys- Each bowling pin had a
villains face on it. 

Leap Tall Buildings

Close up on the bad guys. 

We also practiced throwing Captain America's Shield (a frisbee with Captain America's shield taped to it) and threw some rockets (I borrowed nerf rockets from my Gym Teacher friend). 

All in all Superhero Training Day was a blast.  I have another Superhero Day mulling around in my head, which is why I made this a Training Day. It sure was a SUPER day! (That pun will never get old.)

-Damien 

Harry Potter Day-AKA The Last Days of School part 2

On the last day of school, quite an emotional one for me, I decided we would spend the day having some fun and saving the tears for the end of the day. 

I saw a great idea on Pinterest about a mother who made her own Harry Potter robes for her son's birthday party using men's extra large t-shirts that she spliced up the front. Simple! Easy! Adorable! Perfect! 

Wands at the ready in our Hogwarts robes

I made the robes for my class (after their parents sent in the shirts) and a Harry Potter day was born. I made buttons for the students to wear denoting their assigned houses. Add the wands that they had earned from their magical behavior and we certainly looked the part, now what to do?  

We started the day by watching an interview with the HeadMistress JK Rowling herself. She is one of my top three ALL TIME idols. She is truly amazing and the video was GREAT!  The kids loved it as well totally drinking the JK Rowling Kool-aid. 

Then we held and Harry Potter Jeopardy game. I have a template to make my SMARTBoard look like the Jeopardy board and loaded it with questions about the two Potter novels we read this year-Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets. It was quite a competition and a really enjoyable activity.  

Lastly, we made our own Golden Snitches (and frazzled-last day of school me didn't take any pictures).  

It was the perfect last day of school. We just had fun being together as we had all year long. This was a good year and I will definitely miss this group. 

-Damien 

The Last Days of School part 1

In reviewing our blog today I noticed that our last post declares only two days of school left...and that was almost a month ago!  Oops!

Maybe Kelly and I dove into summer quickly since it took us so long to get there (school lasted two and a half weeks longer than last year due to Superstorm Sandy and a new superintendent). 

Let's wrap some things up shall we...

Kelly and I held our first ever Reading Buddy Scavenger Hunt. I'll be honest with my blog buddies-it wasn't well planned and we cancelled it twice. Then, the day before, we decided to go with it. We raided the gym and found loads of equipment the play with. We organized twelve different tasks that our kids would participate in with their buddy. Although it was a stressful set-up and required me to arrive at school earlier than I desire (so not a morning person) it was soooooo worth it. 

Our tasks included:

-an obstacle course

-basketball shots

-a chalk mural

-an art station

-writing adjectives to describe their teachers

-teacher hug or high five station

.....and a few more. It was really a great day.  Check out the pictures below. 

Gathering our materials in the early dawn.

We Survived-100th Day & Read Across America Day

We made it!  Kelly and I survived one heck of a week that included both the 100th day of school and Read Across America Day. 

Kelly and I planned to participate in a half day of 100th day of School activities.  Well, let's just say what we planned could have taken an entire day because we didn't get beyond activity number 1.  Our students made 100th day hats, each with 10 strips of colored paper hanging from the top.  On each colored paper (you guessed it) things in groups of ten. 

Ten stamps
                Ten drawings
                                     Ten math problems
                                                                   Ten friends names
                                                                                                 Etc.

That's all we got to together.  Kelly completed some other activities and I HOPE she will find the time to blog about it.  Here's a few pictures......

Here is the stamping station underway.  

Since Kelly's room is Under the Sea themed one group of ten was a
group of ten fish.

Here is the sign above Kelly's door made by her student teacher!  The kids were so excited to enter the classroom.  This idea was from Pinterest.

This is the 100th day kiss hunt that we were supposed to do with our Reading Buddies but ran out of time.  Spread out throughout the room were 100 kisses that had a number from 1-100 on the bottom of the kiss.  Each student was sent to hunt for two kisses and then place on the hundreds chart which only had a few numbers showing on the 100's chart.  Kids loved this activity.

Next it was on to Read Across America Day.  

Step #1- Decorate the door. 

I always use Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone as my book inspiration but come up with a different design each year.  I have to say, I am running out of ideas.  Last year I recreated the Hogwarts Express.  Revisit that blog post here: Read Across America Day 2012 . This year I was going with a quote I found and the idea that reading can allow you to experience many lives.  We were reading Harry Potter and were going to experience the Great Hall.

Here we are reading HPSS while wearing Harry glasses and lightning shaped scars.  The kids
created their own Harry covers. 

Here we are TRANSPORTED into the book waiting to be sorted in the Great Hall. 

Sure I think the decor is cute, but it was the BIGGEST pain in the butt to created and had me at school, hanging candles until 10:30 PM the night before RAA Day.  (Note to self-next year, begin door decor on January 7th).

Kelly's door made by her student teacher:

In Kelly's room before beginning a very fun filled day we needed some creative energy.  Another idea from Pinterest, the cat in the hat snack.  Vanilla yogurt layered with strawberries.  Kids ate this up then we were ready for the rest of the day.

We spent the day reading Dr. Seuss books, writing about Dr. Seuss books, watching digital retelling of Dr. Seuss books, and creating Dr. Seuss characters.  Here are some pictures from our EXHAUSTING but really FUN day!

Here we are watching a digital retelling of Yertle the Turtle. VERY cute!

We had our Reading Buddies share some Dr. Seuss stories together 

We made this guy...

Our buddies analyzing the character of Yertle the Turtle

We also had a Seuss relay which was one of the best activities of the day.  The students had to run a race and search for Dr. Seuss titles given only the initials of the titles (for example OFTFRFBF is One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish). 

                                    Relay pictures:

On your mark get set go!

                  Find that Dr. Seuss title as fast as you can!

We ended the day with one of my favorite activities, A movie on the ceiling.  I rig up the projector to shine on the ceiling and our students lay down on the floor with pillows and blankets to watch the movie.  It is so cute watching them all lay together and watch the film.  

So much FUN!

It was a GREAT day filled with reading fun!  

How did you enjoy your Read Across America Day celebration?
Damien 

Reading Buddies How-to-Guide

Hello Buddies-

Happy Saturday! Kelly and I spent some time today finishing up a product that we have been working on for a while.  A How-To-Guide for our Reading Buddies program.  Kelly and I have been doing Reading Buddies for years, it's actually one of the reasons we have become so close.  

Reading Buddies pairs up a student in my fifth grade class and a student in her second grade class for a year long reading partnership.  The students share books together, read to each other, are read to, and participate in many reading activities and celebrations.  

The guide can be found at our TPT Store: Reading Buddies How-To-Guide

Our TPT Store Freebie is also part of the guide and can be found here: Reading Buddy Questionnaire

This is the PERFECT time of year to start Reading Buddies.  Below are some pictures from THIS Friday when Kelly and I got together to introduce our kids to their buddies.

Learning a bit about our new friend using the questionnaire

Working together!

Working in beanbags on the carpet!

Wishing you all the best for the upcoming week!

-Damien and Kelly

Trunk or Treat

Hello buddies- 

Tomorrow is our first day back to school since October 23rd due to the destruction of Sandy.  We weren't able to celebrate Halloween because we were in the midst of the storm and although minimal considering the chaos and destruction Sandy brought, but quite a bummer for our kids.  

So today, we had our first ever Trunk or Treat event. Have you ever heard of trunk or treating?  Basically you trick or treat but in a safe location and from the trunk of people's cars. We opened up our fields, parked our cars together (Kelly and I trunk shared) and decorated our trunks with Halloween decor. 

It was a BLAST having the kids trick (or trunk) or treat to people they knew.  Kelly and I loved seeing the kids, especially after our unexpected break. It was a blast and hopefully a tradition for our school.



Awaiting the arrival of our Trunk or Treaters.  Notice my lounging Harry Potter

Handing out candy to one of my favorite "goblins".

Some Trunk or Treaters from Kelly's class

Remember- look at our last post to see the GIVEAWAY we are participating in. It's a biggie!

Damien and Kelly

Fractions, Decimals, Percents, and...BASKETBALL

Happy March Madness!

Each year my school hosts a 5th graders vs parents/teachers basketball game.  The game was yesterday, and even with the highest number of teacher volunteers EVER.  I am really sore today!  I am not much of an athlete, but I always give 110% anyway.  It was a GREAT night and a serious workout.  Glad that my blogging buddy Kelly joined us this year, her aggressive nature made me look gentle as I picked up, scooped, and carried kids during the game. 

Leading up to the game I thought it would be great to monopolize on the excitement in the air and incorporate some basketball into our Math unit on fractions, decimals, and percents.

First, we headed to the APR (or gym) and I paired each of my students.  One member of the pair served as the shooter and the other the recorder.  They were given two minutes to shoot, and hopefully make as many baskets as possible while the recorder collected the data.

As the gang shoots, our recorders use the Data Collection Sheet
to record the numbers of shots taken, and the number of shots made. 

After two minutes, my duos switched roles until everyone was complete. Once we headed back to the classroom they worked with the data.  We expressed the shots made and missed as fractions, then used calculators to convert them into decimals.  After our decimals were rounded to the nearest hundredth, we used so mental math to convert the decimal to a percent in order to have calculate our shooting accuracy.  I am happy to say that (as not much of an athlete) my shooting accuracy was 59%! 

Woo Hoo!

We surveyed our peers to find out the fraction of their shots made.  My guys then graphed their data along with the data they collected from their peers.  As with all my Math activities, their was a written reflection at the end that asked my kids to reflect upon how these skills may be applied to real life and what they thought of the activity.  

Collecting Data by surveying their classmates.

Converting their fractional representations of shots made/missed
into decimals and percents. 

This really was a fun activity for all of us, it got us out of the classroom, running around a bit, and all int he name of math.  One of my favorite reflections was written by a real cute, he wrote "I don't mind when we do boring stuff in math because I know Mr. F always has something fun on the way".  I TRY!

This activity is available for purchase at The Reading Buddies Teachers Pay Teachers store.  While your there, why not follow us so that our updates will be delivered directly to your inbox.

The Reading Buddies on TPT

-Damien